This invention relates generally to storage systems associated with computer systems and more particularly to providing a method and apparatus for improving the monitoring and control arrays of disks associated with the storage systems.
As it is known in the art, computer systems generally include a central processing unit, a memory subsystem and a storage subsystem. According to a networked or enterprise model of a computer system, the storage subsystem associated with or in addition to a local computer system, may include a large number of independent storage devices or disks housed in a single enclosure. This array of storage devices is typically connected to several computers over a network. Such a model allows for the centralization of data which is to be shared among many users and also allows a single point of maintenance for the storage functions associated with computer systems.
One type of storage subsystem known in the art is one which includes a number of redundant disk storage devices configured as an array. Such a system is typically known as a RAID storage system. One of the advantages of a RAID type storage system is that it provides a massive amount of storage (typically in the tens to hundreds of gigabytes range) and depending upon the RAID configuration may provide several differing levels of fault tolerance.
A disk storage system such as the RAID system described above is a much more complex system compared to a so called JBOD (Just a Bunch of Disks) system and will typically include one or more front end (or host) adapters/controllers which are responsible for receiving and processing requests from the various host devices which may be connected to the storage system. Additionally, a RAID storage system as described above may also include several disk adapters/controllers which are used to control the transactions between the disk storage devices and the host controller/adapter described above. Some storage systems may also include a very large buffer (e.g. a cache memory) for buffering the data transfers between the disk adapters and the host adapters.
The RAID storage systems described above are very complex. Despite the complexity, a system administrator must be able to monitor and control the various devices of the storage system. One way of providing monitoring and control functions is by way of an external (to the storage system) application program running on a host computer. Such programs may include a graphical user interface (GUI) which provides the administrator with an easier way to monitor and manage the storage devices.
Since the type of storage system described above is capable of storing extremely large amounts of data, it will typically be connected to several host computers. Each of the host computers may operate independently of the others. Furthermore, each host connected to the storage system will typically have its own set of private devices or volumes assigned to it which are a subset of all the devices in the storage system. Additionally, each of the hosts will also typically assign labels to its associated devices and volumes using a nomenclature which allows the host operating system to communicate with the devices using standard syntax or naming conventions.
As stated above, the hosts attached to the storage system operate independently. Typically, this results in the devices assigned to one host not being accessible by the other hosts. Although certain storage systems like the SYMMETRIX system manufactured by EMC Corporation allow access to all the disks from a single host during maintenance procedures, the identification of the disks is typically by disk number and is not known by the operating systems of the various hosts. As a result, prior art monitoring and control programs running on one host will not allow a system administrator to find a problematic disk drive based on information supplied by the host system since the host system identification and the internal storage system identification do not coincide.
It would be advantageous, therefore, to provide a storage management system and method which provided a user from one host to be able to identify the disks and or volumes associated with another host using the host designated identification.